A client has a new baby: congratulations and family protection on WhatsApp

WhatsApp category : Marketing

When to send this message

Send this only when the client told you about the birth themselves: in a conversation, at a meeting, or in reply to a "Life event check-in" campaign. In ORIS it is the life_event flag on the record that triggers it, never a guess from social media or a third party, which would be clumsy and questionable under POPIA or UK GDPR.

It combines a sincere word with useful information. In South Africa the practical items are adding the baby as a dependant on the medical scheme (schemes set their own registration window, often counted from the birth), reviewing life cover and a funeral policy, and checking the beneficiary nomination. In Kenya or Nigeria it is the family medical plan and an education savings policy. In the UK it is life cover, income protection and, where the client has private medical insurance, adding the child to the policy.

Because it suggests a product, Meta treats it as marketing: marketing template, consent, opt-outs excluded. For clients without marketing consent, send the congratulations only, within the 24-hour window if the client wrote first, and keep the advice for the next servicing contact. Consent rules are covered in POPIA and WhatsApp: what a broker may send.

Variants

Warm

Plain

Short (East Africa, family medical plan)

Formal (UK)

Congratulations only (client without marketing consent)

Writing tips

• Keep the congratulations and the advice in two separate paragraphs: the client must be able to read the first without feeling the second coming.
• Name the document you need (birth certificate) and what you will do with it: a tired parent wants one simple task, not a choice.
• Be careful with deadlines: registering a newborn without waiting periods depends on the scheme or policy; write "within the window your scheme allows" rather than a number of days.
• Update the record (child, date, policies affected): the same event will feed next year's cover review.
• If the birth was difficult or the client mentioned a health concern, drop the commercial angle and call instead.

Common mistakes

• Congratulating a client whose news you only learnt from a third party or social media.
• Jumping straight to a life cover premium: the message becomes an advert dressed as a greeting card.
• Promising the baby is "covered from today" before the scheme or insurer has processed the addition.
• Using this template for clients with a marketing opt-out; for them, congratulations only.

Frequently asked questions

Why is this marketing if it is mostly congratulations?

Because it proposes a cover review and the addition of a product, which is Meta's rule whenever a message suggests an offer. The congratulations-only variant, with no proposal, can go as a service message within the window the client opened.

Which covers should be checked at a birth?

Medical cover (registering the child as a dependant), life cover and income protection, the funeral policy where relevant, beneficiary nominations, and sometimes the personal liability section of the household policy. The priority depends on the household's situation.

How does ORIS know a baby was born?

Only because the client said so: the reply analysis detects life events mentioned in the conversation and sets a life_event flag on the record, which the adviser confirms before any campaign uses it.

Is there a deadline to register the newborn?

Medical schemes and insurers often allow a window for cover backdated to the birth, but its length varies by scheme and country. Ask for the document quickly and refer to the scheme rules rather than quoting a precise number of days.